Andrew began the press conference in Brisbane by announcing: "Peter Greste is a free man."

"He is currently with our brother Mike in Cyprus where he is gathering his thoughts for the trip home. He is safe, healthy, very, very happy to be on his way home. We have spoken with him recently and Peter firstly wanted to thank all the people who have supported him who have given time, money, and energy in seeking his freedom," Andrew said, adding that prawns and beer would be waiting in Australia for him.

His mother, Lois, said she was "ecstatic" at the breakthrough, which the family have not stopped campaigning for over the past year.

"I just can’t say how happy I am about it," she said. "It’s also difficult to realise that this day has actually come. Even though I dreamed about it quietly, not daring to think about it too much, it’s arrived now."

After his release from Tora Prison, Greste left Cairo on an EgyptAir flight to Larnaca, Cyprus, shortly before 4 p.m. Egypt time on Sunday, in the company of his brother Mike.

Andrew confirmed the news in a statement Monday morning. "We're ecstatic that Peter has been released and we now ask if the world could respect his privacy, to give him time to appreciate his freedom before he faces the media," he said, along with a tweet showing his bursting emotion.

Hard to believe but YES @PeterGreste is a free man. His butt has left Egyptian airspace yippeeeeee!!!!! Think I'll go and get drunk :):):)

Greste, alongside Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed, were arrested in December of 2013 over their coverage of the violent crackdown on Islamist protests following the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi. They were found guilty of aiding a terrorist organisation and creating news that had a negative impact on Egypt's reputation.

Andrew said Greste will not give up until both his colleagues are released and the family wanted to acknowledge the men's continuing plight.

"On a more somber note, we also — and I know Peter sincerely wanted me to mention this point — want to acknowledge that Peter’s two other colleagues are still there," Andrew told the media in Brisbane. "Peter was arrested with Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy, they also deserve to be free. Peter won’t rest until they’re released from prison, and we hope that will follow in the very near future."

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who had been negotiating for Greste's release, said Monday that the 49-year-old journalist had told her by telephone from Egypt that he was desperate to return to his family in the Australian city of Brisbane after spending 400 days in custody.

"I spoke to Peter Greste shortly after his release and before he departed Egypt," she said at a press conference in Sydney on Monday. "He was immensely relieved and he was desperate to come home to Australia and reunite with his family... From my discussion with him, he was very keen to be back on a beach and lying in the sun in Australia."

In a statement, Mostefa Souag, acting director general of Al Jazeera Media Network said, “We’re pleased for Peter and his family that they are to be reunited. It has been an incredible and unjustifiable ordeal for them, and they have coped with incredible dignity. Peter’s integrity is not just intact, but has been further enhanced by the fortitude and sacrifice he has shown for his profession of informing the public."

An Egyptian prison official and the nation's official news agency said Greste was released following a presidential "approval." The official and an Interior Ministry statement said he was released under a new deportation law passed last year. The law appeared to have been tailored for the Al Jazeera case.

Canada welcomed the "positive developments," saying it was hopeful that Fahmy's case would be "resolved shortly," according to a statement from the office of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Consular.

Meanwhile, Mohamed's fate is unclear, as he will not benefit from the deportation law because he does not have another nationality besides Egyptian.

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